The Muppet movies that were made while Jim Henson was still alive are all excellent. Jim Henson was one of the greatest entertainers to ever live, and the Muppets are one of his best-known casts of creations. As far as plot goes, these movies are all relatively straightforward. The Muppets Take Manhattan has a little more soul-searching on the part of Kermit than the other movies, but is at no point anything even remotely resembling a melancholy film (though the song "Saying Goodbye" always gets me a little misty). The thing about Muppet movies that make them great isn't their stories, of course. It's their characters. Despite the fact that they're given adult or near-adult roles in the films, the Muppets themselves all react to and interact with the world as children. They ask why things are the way they are, they think in simple terms, they sing songs, they make friends with almost everyone they meet. While all are, overall, comedies, there are times when the Muppets are able to be remarkably stirring, such as Kermit's final refusal to run away any more in The Muppet Movie. These moments, however, are quickly followed by laughs, as Henson reminds us that taking things seriously is a lot less fun than the alternative. Bears juggle, chickens dance, penguins are tossed, giant birds hitchike, and animals solve crimes. How great is that?
Hackers
Hackers is probably about the worst mainstream movie about computer hotshots ever made, with the possible exception of The Net. The acting is pretty rough, the writing is downright rotten, the story is silly, and the technical accuracy level hovers around the zero mark. Also, this film features Penn, but not Teller. That aside, it's one of my top picks. The style of the movie is great. Excepting the opening sequence, the camera work and direction are excellent. The costuming, makeup, and set design are superb. The music isn't half bad. And there are a few instances of genuine good moviemaking in the first 30 minutes or so. The lead characters are actually pretty good in their roles, considering the low quality of the material. The film's downfall is really the lack of adequate villian content. The villians are there and all, but the performances by the actors in villainous roles are laughably bad. There's a bit of subtext in the movie in that all the heroes are rollerbladers and the head villian is a skateboarder, but that's about as deep as it gets. It still scores high in my opinion, though, because, in addition to all the style points and so-bad-it's-good points, it also earns a lot of points for having Angelina Jolie in it.
Clerks
Hands down, this is the best Kevin Smith film ever. The utterly pointless story of two slackers and their misadventures over the course of a single day has got to be one of the best banter films ever. Shot in black and white with a single camera and a cast of unknowns, it launched Kevin Smith's film career, leading to the follow-ups Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma. The only reason to watch this film is the dialogue, but that's more than reason enough.
A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave
These are Nick Parks' most popular claymation shorts, all featuring the mildly clueless inventor, Wallace, and his dog, Gromit. All under 45 minutes in length, they are short adventures with a lot of both slapstick and verbal humor. The animation quality is outstanding - Parks makes plasticine do things plasticine was never meant to do. They're so short that describing them would be impossible without simply synopsing their stories, but the general idea of the films is: Wallace does something incredible but somehow it doesn't go quite right, something bad happens, Gromit saves the day. At any rate, they're all worth watching. So do it, and stop reading. And hey, watch Chicken Run, too, while you're at it.
Army of Darkness
Kicking the crap out of the two movies that preceded it (Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2, which were essentially the same movie done twice), the third film to star Bruce Campbell as Ash is nothing but freaking hilarious. Deciding (finally) that creepiness was something best left to people who had weaker urges to make fun of themselves, Sam Raimi kept the creepiness level low in favor of a more toughguy-from-modern-times-stuck-in-the-middle-ages formula (which, it, basically invented, I suppose). The movie is rich with quotably foolish lines and all-too-tough speeches delivered by Bruce Campbell, and is consistently so bad that you can't help but think they only did it to be funny. This movie about a shotgun wielding houseware's clerk with a chainsaw for an arm not only gave the world the version of Ash that would one day be plagerized, peroxided, and renamed Duke Nukem, but also holds the record for Most Evil Skeletons Blown Up by Primitive Explosives in a Moving Picture.
The Matrix
Let's face it, Matrix is a stupid movie. It's a conglomerate of Alice in Wonderland, Star Wars, and any number of cowboy movies. That's why it's so much fun to watch. The special effects are incredibly good, Keanu Reeves is incredibly Keanu-y, Laurence Fishburne is incredibly cool, and the costuming, lighting, set design, makeup, and overall style of the film are head and shoulders above Hackers, it's closest competition style-wise. Also, this has some of the best fight scenes in movie history (but, uh, it's not like eye candy, erm, matters to the, uh, critical elite like myself... ahem...)
Saving Private Ryan and Full Metal Jacket
Both of these are excellent war movies about World War II and the Vietnam War respectively. Both are graphicly violent and not for the weak of heart. Both are also excellent movies, masterpieces of drama, and brilliant examples of directing by Speilberg (Ryan), and Kubrick (Jacket).
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
My favorite Coen Brothers movie, this one is totally bluegrass-tastic. It's a retelling of Homer's Odysee, only set in the Depression-era American midwest. Everyone involved in this movie gets an automatic admission to the International Coolness Society.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
It's A Charlie Brown Christmas. 'Nuff said.
See Also:
Not to slight these movies, because I like them all a lot, but I don't think this page needs more blurbs. Do you?
The Kentucky Fried Movie; Shreck; X-Men; You Are Here; Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels; Snatch; The City of Lost Children; Beauty & the Beast; Trainspotting; The Dark Crystal; Boondock Saints; Thursday; Anything Pixar; Lilo & Stitch; Spider-Man; Blues Brothers; Ghostbusters; Monty Python's anything; various movies in the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars series. And whatever else you want to watch. I won't stop you. Seriously. And yes, I did just admit to enjoying the Harry Potter movies. I'm not ashamed (much).
Anime:
Not to slight Japan, but Anime is generally an acquired taste. Except where noted, these are my favorite examples of the various sections.
Movies: Akira; Jin-Roh; Ninja Scroll; Perfect Blue; Ghost in the Shell; Spriggan (but only for the action sequences); X (but only for the animation); Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Series: Cowboy Bebop; Outlaw Star; Record of Lodoss War (first season); Lain; Dominion Tank Police